Feral tank can make use of racks of items

It's all about heroics. Larger packs lock seed can pump more dps. Only one target on my lock can still be able to get 1500 on bosses given the WOW TBC Gold tank can withstand threats and there's a shaman and mechanics aren't able to stop it.

It's true that if you have a tank that is geared as well as a solid lock with large pulls, then everyone else in the group is pretty much an all-purpose carry, with the exception of bosses. Hunters will be smoked, as are Mages, too, unless they're low in health, and the mage has the ability to snipe them before seeds go off.

Though 500 dps is an incredibly low amount for one boss it should be over 1k if they are given the same conditions (fast kill times, maximum buffs) in the event that they own any gear.

Being a wild-type tank, I'm usually between 400 and 500 DPS. Wearing the dorky level 40 hat you'll need a higher cat appearance. If you are not, the other is correct. Tank.

Feral tank can make use of racks of items and swap out to DPS at a whim, and the talent difference between the tank and best DPS cat is a mere only a couple of points. It's not necessary to concentrate on feral DPS.

It's true, there is extra utility to bring. Personally I'm a laidback guy and don't care if you're only at 500-600 DPS when grouped with me. It's just to point out that tanking is a huge benefit.

A part of my issue is that I'm not able to fully rotate on certain mobs because the hunter/mage/lock is taking everything out. .... Raids boast a significantly higher total dps, although not like pure DPS but much lower than dungeons.

It's normal. You'll never be able to compete with AOE. Additionally, everyone nowadays compares everything to the top most circle jerks that parse but who cares. You could become a successful DPS tank and move to buy WOW Classic Burning Crusade Gold DPS with bosses. It is possible to speak only Parse and BiS in the mainline currently. They take about 10 seconds longer to handle the battle that was caused by the utility.