My wife's 98 Cherokee got the cat rattle at about 150,000 miles as well. I bought a new Magnaflow cat on e-bay for about $80 and had it installed by a local exhaust shop. Cost me about $150 all told.
The guy at the shop told me that the baffles inside the cat wear thin over time and will break off and rattle around inside the cat. Just replace the cat and you should be fine.
Yeah, I think I'll go that route.