This comic: http://www.breakingcatnews.com/comic/theres-a-cricket-somewhere-in-the-apartment/ from the original cat news network talks about Lupin’s deafness and sensitivity to vibrations. (Also see the first comment in its discussions.)
The city needs power for you to flush your toilets. The city’s water is pumped up from somewhere (a river, an aquifer, etc.). Those pumps are powered by the city’s electrical grid, not their own generator. It’s generally pumped into water towers to maintain a supply of pressurized water. But if the power to the water pumps goes out, the water towers will run empty pretty quickly. Even before the towers go dry, the city will probably start rationing the water to avoid running out of drinking water. So, if you want water for anything else, it’s best to get a supply while it’s available.
Spoiler:
Take the goose across,Row back,Take the fox across,Row back with the goose,Take the grain across,Row back,Take the goose across.
So, yeah, he has to cross 7 times.