bengal cat with allergies

Question
Hello
Im at a loss with my cat and his allergy problem.  He is a two year old male bengal cat and has had problems with his face most of his life.  He has had a swollen chin so big that my vet thought he had broken bones in his face (diagnosis: just a swollen chin and given a steroid shot).  He has had lips so swollen that they have actually cracked open and bleed (diagnosis:  swollen lips and given a steriod shot).  He has had a crusty nose to the point where I thought his nose was being eaten away by some sort of flesh eating virus or something (diagnosis:  none and once again given a steriod shot).  He has also been given an antibiotic and full blood work to no avail.  His blood work came back completely normal.  I have switched his dishes, litter and food.  He is currently eating a salmon based food to get him away from the chicken based foods but the last steriod shot was two weeks ago and his lips are swollen today.  My vet is now suggesting a long term steroid pill which frightens me.  Can you suggest anything to try next?  Possibly eliminating grains or ????? Something holistic ????  Please, any help would be so appreciated as Im getting pretty tired of these vet bills and my cat still does not feel good.

Answer
Debbie:

FYI: I found a possibility for what is wrong with your cat.

It's a longshot, but there is a little known condition called EOSINOPHILIC GRANULOMA COMPLEX. It's a feline allergic skin disease that can take some highly ulcerative forms, especially involving the upper lip.

Here is a link (if it is not clickable, copy the whole link into your address bar) that tells about the disease and has pictures.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/eosinophilic_granuloma.html

Hope kitty is doing OK.
Carol