1994 GMC C1500 wont start

I have a 1994 GMC that would not start this morning, 1 month ago my muffler gave out. After I replaced it my truck still sounded as if it needed a muffler (could be the catalytic converter) the guy that replaced the muffler said I needed to replace it, so first question will a bad catalytic converter cause a car not to start? I did add starting fluid and the truck started right up. Not sure if the fuel pump is bad or the fuel filter (I did replace the fuel filter a two years ago) or cause I didn’t change the catalytic converter?