I'm not a fan of just poking holes to the cat. I think that is just a way of making it less restrictive with wrong methods.
I removed my cat on a cforce 1000 just to get rid of the heat. Worked a charm. I didnt see any gains in power. The exhaust note might be little louder and on cold start gives a lot of gas smell and when given some throttle there are occasional bangs.
I have O2 meter. Didnt check values before decat, but it didnt get lean after.