One bear's opinion on how to gear up from 81-85 in Cataclysm.

Reference links:

Ah! Bears! Cataclysm Tanking (v4.0.3a)
Definitive Cat DPS FAQ (4.0.x)

Stat priority:

This early in the expansion, it's hard to say whether time-to-live (stamina stacking) is better then AGI stacking (more dodge, crit, attack power) or whether you'll want more threat (hit/expertise stacking). There are a lot of people that claim to know the answer, but I wouldn't lean too far one way or the other. It will also vary depending on whether you are soloing, 5-man tanking, 5-man DPS, normal raiding or doing progression raiding.

AGI is very good (it gives dodge, crit, AP)
Mastery is very good for kitty, decent/good for bear
STA is fine but not a priority
Dodge is very nice for a bear
Expertise is nice but doesn't need to be capped
Crit is very nice for a bear (Savage Defense)
Haste always gets reforged to dodge for a bear
STR only gives AP now and is an inferior stat
Hit ranks towards the bottom

Some stats can be reforged into other stats. You cannot reforge any of the primary stats (INT, AGI, STA, etc) nor can you reforge in a way that adds more to an already existing secondary stat on the item. The process of reforging allows you to shift 40% of the value of a secondary stat over to a different secondary stat. So you can reforge Haste -> Dodge/Crit, but you can't touch AGI/STA/STR or Resilience.

Bear: STA/AGI, Armor, Dodge, Mastery, Crit, Hit/Expertise, Haste
Cat: AGI, Mastery, Crit, Hit/Expertise, Haste

Haste scores dead last for a bear, reforge it into Dodge or Mastery (dodge is generally preferred). Hit should almost always be reforged into Dodge/Mastery. Crit rating should generally not be reforged. Mastery and Dodge should never be reforged into anything else.

Your goal prior to heroics should be 20% dodge, without any buffs, in humanoid form at level 85. That means stacking AGI/Dodge gems (or AGI/Mastery, it's a bit of a toss-up), agility enchants, and using agility food and flasks. If you're below 19% dodge in humanoid form then you're probably not ready yet for heroics, and if you're above 21-22% then you can probably start stacking a bit more Stamina. The Night Elf racial is a huge bonus here because it boosts your avoidance by 2%.

The ideal gear for a bear is anything with AGI/STA where the secondary stats are Dodge/Mastery/Crit.

In general, what I've found is that:

Always: Haste -> Dodge
Mostly: Hit -> Dodge
Rarely: Expertise -> Dodge

Hit rating is basically useless for the 5-man instance bear. The hit cap for +3 level is 8%, but we do fine with somewhere between 2-4% for heroics. You'll never gem/enchant for +Hit, but you might choose not to reforge +Hit if you're below 2-4%. About 120 points of +Hit is worth about a 1% reduction in the miss chance.

Expertise is somewhat more useful, depending on how happy you are with occasional misses. You should generally not gem or reforge for expertise, but the +50 rating enchants for gloves and wrists might be something to look into. I found that an expertise score of zero was too low and am generally happier when I have 5-10 expertise. That would be somewhere between 150-300 expertise points (about 30 points of expertise rating = 1 point of expertise). The cap is 22 for heroics (+2 levels) or 56 for raids (+3 levels) but you don't want to go anywhere near the cap.

Weapons

Two-handed, with AGI / STA / Mastery / Crit / Dodge would be perfect. The "NN/MMM" values are the level at which it can be obtained/equipped along with the item level. Things in Cataclysm start at around item level 300 with 346 being pre-raid blues from heroics and 359 being first tier raid loot.

78/308 Berto's Staff - Blackrock Caverns (N) - 388 DPS 212 AGI 319 STA 142 Crit 142 Haste
81/316 Obsidium Bladespear - Crafted - 418 DPS 229 AGI 343 STA 153 Mastery 153 Haste
85/346 Elementium Poleaxe - Crafted - 552 DPS 302 AGI 545 STA 202 Mastery 202 Crit
85/359 Malevolence - Bastion of Twilight (raid) - 623 DPS 341 AGI 512 STA 228 Mastery 228 Crit

The crafted 2H is probably your best choice at 81 and again at 85. Keep in mind that the level 85 crafted weapon is going to be *very* expensive due to materials cost combined with the Chaos Orbs. Unlike Wrath, there are not a lot of 2H weapon drops that druids can use. There are a few normal/heroic dungeon drops (heroic BRC and heroic Lost City), but I don't count on those. So get the level 85 weapon crafted, then run with it until Malevolence drops in BoT.

Best enchant for a weapon is +130 AGI (Mighty Agility). This will be a moderately expensive enchant due to the materials. The alternative is "Massacre" (110 AP) or "Greater Savagery" (85 AP) from Northrend enchants. Or the +35 AGI (Major Agility) enchant from burning crusade. One point of AGI = 2 Attack Power, so the +35 is worth 70 AP. Except that the 35 AGI would also give you a small amount of crit/dodge as well. So it's a bit of a toss-up between the 2 Northrend enchants or the Outland enchant until you can afford the +130 AGI enchant.

Relics

The answer here is "dungeon drop" or "Inscription" until you get 700 valor points for the level 359 relic. If you don't want to farm herbs to get the inks and components required for the inscription, then you'll need to run heroic SFK or heroic BRC and hope for a drop off of the bosses.

81/316 Runed Dragonscale - Crafted - 72 AGI 108 STA 48 Hit 48 Expertise 1 Prismatic
85/346 Silver Inlaid Leaf - Crafted - 95 AGI 143 STA 60 Haste 65 Crit 1 Prismatic
85/359 Relic of Golganneth - 700 Valor Points - 107 AGI 161 STA 72 Haste 72 Crit 1 Prismatic

Reforge the Haste to Dodge on the level 85 relics. Gem for AGI/STA.

The answer for how many stacks of herbs you need to create the relics is "it depends". The rare Inferno Ink takes (2) rare pigments per ink, or you can trade-in 10 regular Blackfallow Ink in Dalaran and buy a single Inferno Ink. The low-level zone herbs (Azshara's Veil, Cinderbloom, Heartblossom, Stormvine) all have a 25% chance to give you a rare pigment while the high-level zone herbs (Twilight Jasmine and Whiptail) have a 50% chance to give you a rare pigment.

On average, you will see 1 rare pigment and 10-12 regular pigments from the low-level herbs in a range, and 2 rare pigments and 10-12 regular pigments from the high-level herbs in a range. Divide by two and you have 0.5-1.0 rare inks and 4-6 regular inks from a stack of herbs. Using the ink trader, this simplifies to 1.0-1.5 rare inks per stack of herbs. Plan for the lower number, and bring a few extra stacks along when you visit an Inscriptionist.

Cloaks

There are (4) blue-quality level 346 cloak drops from heroic dungeons in the game. All are 168 AGI / 252 STA, but with different secondary stats. There is a level 359 cloak purchased with 1250 Valor Points. The best choice is probably going to be going with the crafted level 83 cloak and then hope for a drop from the heroics, or make the level 85 cloak and press onward into dungeons/raids that give valor points.

83/333 Cloak of Beasts - Crafted - 149 AGI 224 STA 114 Hit 76 Mastery
85/346 Razor-Edged Cloak - Crafted - 168 AGI 252 STA 125 Crit 90 Mastery

Both of those have good bear/kitty stats and won't need reforging. The "Hit" could be reforged into Dodge/Mastery, but that will depend on how much excess +Hit you have.

The cloak enchant can either be 250 armor (or the +225 armor from Wrath) or +50 or +65 critical strike rating. The +22 AGI enchant from Wrath is borderline, but would be fine for the lower level cloak.

Necklaces

Crafted is a very strong choice, if you have the materials or can farm the materials. Alternately, there is a 346 amulet for 1250 Justice Points (JP). If you quested in Hyjal, you can also get a very nice feral amulet once you reach revered status. There are (3) that drop in heroics and one that is quested.

84/333 Pendant of Victorious Fury - Twilight Highlands quest - 149 AGI 224 STA 105 Haste 90 Mastery

Lots of choices. Getting an AGI/STA necklace is not going to be an issue. Getting one before level 84/85 will be unless you get luck in normal-mode Stonecore.

Rings

This time around, the crafted rings are not flagged as "unique-equipped". So the Elementium Destroyer's Ring is a strong choice for a pair of rings. Otherwise you are looking at drops in heroic dungeons.

When you are level 80, there is 1 ring in Shimmering Expanse from a quest (Visions of the Past: Rise from the Deep) and one from a quest (The Firelord) in Mount Hyjal. Those are only level 288s, but they will keep you for a bit. Do at least one of those quest chains, then save up for at least one (or two) of the crafted rings.

81/318 Worldbinder Signet - quest in Deepholm
83/333 Ring of Dun Algaz - Forgemaster Throngus, Grim Batol (normal)
83/333 Ring of Blinding Stars - Isiset, Halls of Orig (normal)
83/333 Mirage Ring - BoP rare drop, possibly in/around Lost City
85/346 Terrath's Signet of Balance - Revered with Therazane
85/346 Skullcracker Ring - Rom'ogg Bonecrusher, BRC (heroic)
85/346 Ring of Dun Algaz - Forgemaster Throngus, Grim Batol (heroic)
85/346 Ring of Blinding Stars - Isiset, Halls of Orig (heroic)
85/346 Nautilus Ring - Neptulon's Cache, Throne of the Tides (heroic)
85/346 Elementium Destroyer's Ring - Crafted, Jewelcrafting
85/346 Band of Blades - Crafted, Jewelcrafting
85/359 Signet of the Elder Council - Exalted with Earthen Ring

Trinkets

There are trinkets with +AGI on them in Cataclysm. Not many, but a few. The other choice for bears is +STA trinkets.

The main trinket for bears comes from a boss in Stonecore (normal or heroic). For an AGI trinket, go do the "Firing Squad" quest in Uldum. There's also an AGI trinket drop in Blackrock Caverns or Grim Batol (both normal/heroic versions).

Chest

80/308 Kelp Forest Vest - Throne of the Tides quest
83/333 Sly Fox Jerkin - Honored with Guardians of Hyjal
85/346 Tunic of Sinking Envy - 2200 Justice Points
85/359 Assassin's Chestplate - Leatherworking

There are also (3) 85/346 drops in heroic dungeons (Deadmines, Halls of Origination, Grim Batol). Probably the easiest to get is to be honored with Guardians of Hyjal at level 83, followed by hoping for a drop in the heroics or crafting the 85/359 item.

For the enchant go with either +20 to stats or the +75 STA. I would recommend +20 stats since we want more crit/AP/dodge rather then stacking pure STA.

Feet

80/288 Boots of Infinite Possibility - quest chain in Mount Hyjal
83/333 Boots of the Hard Way - quest in Halls of Origination
83/333 Crafty's Gaiters - Siamat, Lost City (normal)
85/346 Crafty's Gaiters - Siamat, Lost City (heroic)
85/346 VanCleef's Boots - Vanessa, Deadmines (heroic)
85/346 Boots of the Predator - Baron Ashbury, SFK (heroic)
85/359 Treads of Fleeting Joy - 1650 VP

At a minimum, you can have 85/333 blue quality boots by doing the quest in HoO (after a longish quest chain in Uldum). Eventually, the purple Treads of Fleeting Joy can be bought with Valor Points.

Enchant your booties with either Earthen Vitality (30 STA + run speed increase) or Lavawalker (35 Mastery + run speed increase). That 8% run speed on boots makes your bear a bit more fleet of foot and gives you 8% more time to get out of a bad AoE. Since a lot of fights in Cataclysm are about mechanics, I feel that bit of run speed pays off more then additional stats from other enchants.

Hands

Gloves are a problem for a feral druid. There's a single dungeon drop in normal Vortex Pinnacle. No quest options, and only a leatherworking PvP pair of gloves.

81/316 Gloves of Haze - Asaad, Vortex Pinnacle (normal)
84/325 Thartuk's Inimitable Gauntlets - BoE off rare mob in Hyjal
84/325 Safecracker's Gloves - BoE world drop
85/339 Bloodied Leather Gloves - Leatherworking (PvP)
85/346 Sticky Fingers - 1650 JP
85/346 Gloves of Haze - Asaad, Vortex Pinnacle (Heroic)
85/359 Stormbolt Gloves - Exalted with Wildhammer Clan

The PvP gloves are probably the best choice, just not ideal. Enchant it with Mastery and then save up justice points or grind out rep with Wildhammer Clan. But if you're having threat issues, consider putting the +50 Expertise enchant on the gloves. There is also an AGI enchant that can be put on gloves that might be better then Mastery.

Head

80/288 Battlemaiden's Vision - quest in Shimmering Expanse
83/325 Chain Reaction Hood - quest in Uldum
85/333 Helm of Secret Knowledge - quest in Grim Batol
85/333 Dunwald Winged Helm - quest in Twilight Highlands

Lots and lots of quest options here. For the enchant, you'll need to grind faction with Earthen Ring in order to buy the STA/Dodge arcanum enchant.

Legs

80/288 Leggings of the Vanquished Usurper - quest in Mt Hyjal
81/318 Leggings of Fragmented Hope - quest in Deepholm
83/333 Swiftflight Leggings - Honored with Wildhammer Clan
84/333 Shaw's Finest Leggings - quest in Twilight Highlands

Lots of quest options here as well, enough to get you into level 333 blues. The enchant is Charscale Leg Armor (145 STA, 55 AGI).

Shoulder

80/288 Wolfking Spaulders - quest in Mt Hyjal
83/333 Clandestine Spaulders - quest in Lost City (Targets of Opportunity)
85/346 Embrace of the Night - 1650 JP
85/346 Thieving Spaulders - Commander Springvale, SFK (heroic)
85/346 Caridean Epaulettes - Commander Ulthok, Throne of the Tides (heroic)

Enchant with Greater Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz (75 STA, 25 Dodge).

Waist

82/316 Stonecore Belt - quest in Stonecore (Wayward Child)
83/333 Red Beam Cord - Rajh in Halls of Origination (normal)
85/346 Quicksand Belt - Revered with Ramkahen
85/346 Sash of Musing - 1650 JP
85/346 Belt of a Thousand Mouths - BoE drop off of rare mob in Uldum
85/346 Red Beam Cord - Rajh in Halls of Origination (heroic)
85/359 Belt of Nefarious Whispers - Crafted (Leatherworking)

Norah has told me that there is a waist enchant (Ebonsteel Belt Buckle) similar to the Eternal Belt Buckle in Wrath.

Wrist

80/288 Wristguards of Prophetic Perishing - quest in Kelp'thar Forest
83/333 Poison Fang Bracers - Temple Guardian Anhuur, Halls of Orig (normal)
85/339 Bloodied Leather Bracers - Leatherworking (PvP)
85/346 Poison Fang Bracers - Temple Guardian Anhuur, Halls of Orig (heroic)
85/346 Double Dealing Bracers - Lord Walden, SFK (heroic)

You may have to go with the blue PvP leatherworking bracers. Most of the other sources are drops in normal/heroic. Enchant with STA or +50 Dodge (preferably Dodge). Alternatively, if you're having issues with being parried / dodged, put the +50 Expertise on them.