Oh, on the cat rattling: there is a heat shield above it that tends to rattle. It is a sleave of metal that is tacked to the pipe. I just cut mine off with a Dremel. That's a lot less expensive. But maybe I misunderstand your problem with it. Maybe you thought of the heat shield. Just an FYI.

-JSBB
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'Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before... He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way.' -- Kurt Vonnegut