Siamese, eye problem

Question
I have a siamese cat, 2 years 9 months old.  I January my apartment caught fire and a couple months later, I had to take my cat, Boo, to the vet because he wouldn't eat, first vet wanted to put him to sleep, I took him to a animal hospital where spots showed up on his lungs, and they kept him for 3 days and then said he had allergic reaction.  I put it together that the smoke from the fire may have causes the reaction.  The bill was almost $1000 which the hospital paid because I couldn't afford it.  Well last month Boo's right back paw swelled up, I gave him Prednisplone and in 2 days it cleared up.  Today, this left eye swelled up, I gave him some Prednisplone again thinking it is an allergy.  I cannot afford to take him to the vet.  Question is, other than the vet, what can I do.  The eye isn't bothering him as I can tell, as his personality is the same as always.  Please help.  I await your email, I can send photos if needed.

Answer
Hi Jeffrey.  I'm not sure if allexperts automatically conceals an email address if sent in the body of an answer, but I would like to see pictures, just for my own curiosity.  So I'll give it a shot - my email is red_kittycat@hotmail.com.

Without the help of a vet and without knowing what the eye looks like, the best I can recommend is to purchase an antibiotic eye ointment called Terramycin (oxytetracycline).  It's available through Amazon.com and Drs. Foster & Smith (www.drsfostersmith.com).  Gently pull down the bottom eyelid and put a 1/4" strip in the pocket between the lid and the eyeball.  Do this 3-4 times daily for 10 days.  This won't hurt to put in his eye regardless of the problem.  At the very least, it will keep it moistened and prevent bacterial infections.  

You can rinse the eye with a saline solution to wash away irritants.  I would do this 15 minutes before applying the Terramycin.

Beyond that, every treatment I can think of must be prescribed by a vet.