Ear Tick

Hello to all my cat lovers.

I found a stray kitten 2-3 months ago and I took him to my cat's (Cheyenne) vet today for possible ear mites.  Instead the vet found a tick resting on the kittens eardrum.  She removed it with tiny forceps and the tick was still alive.  Not sure how long the tick was in there.  However, I both my cat's are inside pets.  My question is, how was this tick able to get inside his ear? How do I prevent this from happening again?

This is the tick that was removed from KoKo's ear.  It makes my skin crawl! My poor boo-boo

  Makes my skin crawl too!  As to how it got there...is it possible it's been there ever since you rescued him?  Since they are now both inside, that would be my only guess.