It will count character when you press key, i have called onkeyup javascript function  

Jquery help

we can do this with jquery 

check this 

<div class="form-group">
                <label>Page Title:(60 WORDS)</label>
                <?php echo $this->Form->textarea('page_title', array("onkeyup"=>"countChar1(this)","cols" => "40", "maxlength" => "60","class"=>"form-control")); ?>
                <div id="charNum1"></div>
            </div>

<script>
    function countChar1(val) {
        var len = val.value.length;
        if (len >= 60) {
            val.value = val.value.substring(0, 60);
        } else {
            $('#charNum1').text(60 - len);
        }
    }

</script>