That’s probably more of a reason to get her vaccinated. Those topical flea and tick meds are rough. We got our cat vaccinated even though she was 100% indoor because she used to get too sick with topicals and liked to cuddle the dog.
Poor thing, I’m glad he has a loving family now. I once found a golden retriever wandering the forest while hiking in Indiana. She had so many ticks on her we had to take her to an emergency vet (since it was Sunday) to get them off. Luckly she was microchipped and we found her family who has been looking for her for over a week at the time.