My engine has slowly started to buck and stumble when I give it gas and I am pretty sure the cat is starting to get clogged up. I want to just cut the thing off and put a pipe in its place but I am unsure if this will mess with the O2 sensors and have me burning more fuel. I figure I can take it off then when it comes time for emissions put it back on. Anyone ever done it ?

There is no after cat. O2 on any fuel injected YJ because they are OBD1. So technically yes you could take it off, but just don't get caught.

The O2 sensor is before the cat so it shouldn't interfere with it.
If your cat is getting clogged I would look into why that's happening. You could be passing raw fuel that is being burnt in the cat.

Could and Should are two different questions... also if your state has inspections.. you may want to keep it or replace it.

a little birdie once said to remove it disassemble it leaving the casing and put in a straight pipe and replace. visual inspection looks like cat still there, so that's what the little birdie said...Driller

You can get a magnaflow cat from jc Whitney for 60 bucks. You just need to get a 6" piece of pipe and extend it cause it's shorter than stock.That's what I did for cheap fix.

Q-tec has a magnaflow direct fit for about 80 bucks. At least they say it's a direct fit.
I have one in the back of my jeep. I just need to install it.

The magnaflow kit is not direct fit. You need a short length of pipe to make up the difference. My buddy had a piece of galvanized fence post that I welded on to the converter that worked pretty good.

I think I can hear that little birdie right now

Unless you want to gas yourself out every time you stop, then just put a new one in.

Also, if your cat is clogged, I'd be looking for other reasons as to why.

Sometimes cats fail for no reason. I have seen 2005 and 2003 cars being driven by little old ladies with bad cats. They were broken inside.

first thing i did was pull that useless pos off.. i have no problems driving with the doors off and back window open... you smell it once in awhile but it aint to the poing of taking your breath away...

So far so good. That ceramic stuff inside is pretty brittle and came out fast with just using a piece of metal pipe. I take it all the shiny flakes are the platinum ?
I suppose if you were bored you could pick every little speck up and get yourself $50 or so. It was a magnaflow cat and lasted 4-5 years so I can't really complain since its spent half its life underwater or covered in mud. Can't even feel a difference in power.

Unless totally plugged or if the honeycomb has shattered and is obstructing the flow you won't notice a cat holding you back. The little bit of restriction they could potentially have....isn't enough to sneeze at. If you are getting hesitation or feelings of sluggish acceleration you should likely be looking else where. A cat could hold you back if you are feeling it die out or become restricted in that 6-7 thousand RPM range with an engine built to exceed the engineered flow abilities of a stock exhaust. In all likelihood the muffler would be restricting you more than a cat converter.

Jeeps generally operate at revs below 4000 and with the small displacement they have..that isn't much flow. We aren't talking about a 454 @ 8000 rpm. For 99% of the Jeeps you see on the road...a 1.5 inch exhaust would handle everything they can flow. The cubic feet per minute just isn't there. Keep in mind that they are a displacement that is less than the smallest V8....and you can run those just fine with a y pipe and 2 inch exhaust to produce enough power to shred an inline 4 or 6.

If the hesitation is at the low end of the power curve you might be better off finding out about lack of fuel flow, mixture issues, ignition issues, timing problems, etc. I personally had some hesitation when transitioning to full throttle and it was the intake temperature sensor. It had failed and was telling the engine it was 100F all the time. It warmed up funny...and was not able to mix correctly. It is a $20 part.

I have in my time.....seen a guy that looks like me hollow out a few cats...looking for improved flow. In my experience it does a whole lot of nothing. Not much change in sound...and negligible increases if any in power. Most the hype about cat restriction was generated by older gents...that first saw cats appear on 70's vehicles and automatically assumed as I did..that they were a source of restriction. Unless shattered to a point that they rattle like a can full of rocks...they aren't. If you can see thru them...they are fine generally. If you were pouring enough raw gas to get the cat to coke up....you would be getting mileage in single digits...and your exhaust would smell like sulfur / raw gas.

Just some thoughts....ymmv.